The yield on the 10-year Treasury note inched down to 2.342% from 2.359% on Wednesday. Yields fall as prices rise. Gold futures added 0.14% to $1,160.70 an ounce.

In corporate news, lower gasoline prices helped Wal-Mart report its first sales increase since 2012. But the retailer gave a less optimistic outlook for the year. Still, Wal-Mart shares rose 4.7% to close at $82.94.

It’s no secret that Wal-Mart (WMT) has had a bit of trouble with falling store traffic and weak U.S. sales.

Today, investors got a pleasant surprise. The world’s largest retailer reported that third-quarter same-store sales climbed for the first time in two years and per share earnings beat expectations.

Wal-Mart earned $1.15 a share on revenue of $119 billion quarter, which just inched out the $1.12 profit per share and $118.3 billion revenue expected by the Street.

Same store sales in the U.S. rose 0.5% despite a 0.7% drop in store traffic.

Wal-Mart shares rose 3.2% to $81.73.

Wal-Mart has been working to address slumping sales ahead of the holiday shopping season. Consumers are tighter with their money amid a slow economic recovery, so the current retail environment is very promotional, which cuts into profit margins.

Wal-Mart has acknowledged that tight consumer spending isn’t likely to change all that much. The retail giant expects to benefit from low fuel prices. Still, the company issued lackluster guidance for the current quarter, which includes the holiday shopping season. The company expects to earn between $1.46 a share and $1.56 a share during the fourth quarter compared to the $1.57 a share expected by analysts. Forecasts for U.S. same-store sales call for flat to 1% growth.

As for the full year, Wal-Mart’s per share profit projections range from $4.92 to $5.02, vs the $4.90 to $5.15 previously projected. Wal-Mart cut its forecasts in August, blaming higher-than-expected U.S. health-care costs and investments in its e-commerce operations.

As Janney Capital Markets analyst David Strasser writes:

Stabilizing results bode well…It is likely still to struggle with catching up on wage underinvestment, and healthcare. This catch-up spending is in our estimates, and after a string of misses, we are confident WMT can hit estimates Q4 onwards. Tailwinds in Q4+ include lower gas prices and lapping SNAP cuts. This should help drive shares higher, while providing some defense as consumer spending remains weak.

Analysts expect Wal-Mart to earn $4.99 a share for the full 2015 fiscal year on revenue of more than $486 billion.

Anticipation of the Black Friday deluge is officially upon us with some eager shoppers already camping out at a Best Buy (BBY) in California hoping to score good deals.

At the moment, we aren’t searching for deals and discounts. Yet we’d be remiss if we didn’t write about two Black Friday biggies, Wal-Mart (WMT) and Target (TGT), which will report earnings in the coming days, were featured today in a note by Janney’s David Strasser.

Regarding current overall retail themes, Strasser writes:

As cross currents continue to hit the U.S. consumer, promotions continue to increase earlier in the season as companies aggressively go after fewer dollars. Consensus growth forecasts are being challenged, with a low end consumer that is continuing to struggle. Recent data points show credit companies are pulling back on low end consumers and could add another headwind to this holiday season.

Wal-Mart’s defensive characteristics “remain attractive” according to Strasser. He adds:

Business remains tough, but lower gas prices should provide a rare tailwind this holiday. We are modeling third-quarter earnings-per-share of $1.13, slightly ahead of the street at $1.12, driven by a flattish U.S. comp. Traffic remains key and becomes even more important in the back half of the year, as Walmart continues to lap SNAP benefits and anticipates $500 million of incremental healthcare costs this year.

Target, according to Strasser, continues to have room for improvement, and will be one to watch. When it comes to Target’s CEO, Strasser writes:

We believe there are many opportunities for improvement, as Mr. Cornell fully embraces the CEO position. We are modeling third-quarter EPS of 47 cents, a penny below consensus as U.S. traffic continues to struggle, and the Canadian segment remains unprofitable.

Wal-Mart reports Thursday and is down 0.64% in trading this afternoon. Target reports on Nov. 19 and is up 0.02%. Competitors Kohl’s (KSS) and Nordstrom (JWN) also report Thursday with Kohl’s down 0.83% and Nordstrom has dropped 2.40%.

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) will pay out its regular dividend on Dec. 27 instead of on Jan. 2, the company said in a statement today.

The most likely reason? Taxes on dividends are likely to rise in the next year, as legislators find ways to fund the deficit. If the Bush tax cuts expire, the dividend rate would jump from 15% to 39.6%. The possible changes are causing companies to issue a wave of special dividends before the end of the year, Bloomberg reports.

About Stocks To Watch

Earnings reports, corporate strategies and analyst insights are all part of what moves stocks, and they’re all covered by the Stocks to Watch blog. We also look at macro issues, investor sentiments and hidden trends that are affecting the market. Stocks to Watch gives you the full picture of the U.S. stock markets, all day long.

The blog is written by Ben Levisohn, a former stock trader who has covered financial markets for the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and BusinessWeek.